Siem Reap.....exploring Angkor Wat on a bicycle, it's the only way to travel!

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Hey Guys,
Well I know chronologically this should be Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City but since we were only there for 1 day prior to leaving for Cambodia and we would be going back I'll save it for later. So we caught a direct bus from HCMC to Siem Reap which was pretty painless, don't quite understand the border crossing procedures there but it does work somehow.

So the city of Siem Reap is basically there to serve and entertain tourists in between visits to Angkor Wat. Without rattling off too much info, Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century by the Khmer and is one of the largest religious complexes in the world. Originally dedicated to the Hindu god of Vishnu it now serves as a Buddist complex although all the original Hindu murals and carvings remain today.

We opted to rent bicycles and tour the grounds ourselves, the site is approx 6km from town and we decided to take two days to do this place justice since it is absolutely huge, and covers an enormous area. We spent our first day checking out most of the outer temples on the circuit deciding to save the main complex of Angkor Wat for the second day. The temples we visited on the first day were stunning, the Bayon temples were probably the most impressive with the huge carvings of the faces of the King at the time. The other temples were also impressive, almost as impressive as the vegetation that has overtaken these sites. A lot has been cleared but the trees that have completely uprooted or just engulphed buildings still stand to provide some awesome pics. The first day we completed a 40km circuit and took way to many pics, this place is great and we would definitely recommend it to anyone.

After an early evening we awoke refreshed and ready to check out the main Complex of Angkor Wat and a few other temples we missed the first day. Angkor Wat is surrounded by a huge moat which when crossing the main bridge you know you're in for something good on the other side. Once through the main gates you enter a courtyard where at the far end is the main building. It is truely a great sight to see, so much so the Cambodian people have put it on their flag for the last 100 years. The buildings are all covered in intricate carvings of Hindu gods, battle scenes and just about everthing and anything related to Vishnu. We lucked out and arrived at lunch time and had the whole place pretty much to ourselves as all the huge tour groups were eating. After seeing every possible temple left that didn't involve a 50km tuk tuk ride we completed our Temples not only for Angkor Wat but for the entire trip. We can now say officially we are templed out! And we got to end it at what is my favourite temple complex of the trip, well tied with Machu Picchu. With that said we're off to Phnom Phenn for a completly different cultural experience with a somber look at the handy work of the Khmer Rouge.

Until the next one......

Cheers,

Matt & Tyne

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Photos

You would never know 1000's of people visit every day.
Lunch time was the best time to visit